Fancying Business
by perseusandromeda
Summary: "What do you want, Potter?" snapped Lily, snatching a few pieces of her parchment out of his hands. She was growing more and more uncomfortable with the newly discovered information that he fancied her — even though it wasn't true. Not true. Definitely not true. JP/LE Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: nope. sigh.**

**A/N:** **So, short version: this is really, really, really short, probably pointless, but fluffy, I have two English assignments which need to be done by eight in the morning, it's 2am, I'm tired, and I have three fics which I'm stuck on because I can't end them properly. This is probably a cartload of rubbish, but you know what they say. . .whatever.**

**Also, did I mention that it's short? But then again, so is life. Enjoy!**

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The news that James Potter fancied Lily Evans had obviously spread like wildfire among the female population of Hogwarts. She was happily oblivious to the fact for some time now, it seemed. Only when a fifth year Ravenclaw —who looked as though she could gladly scratch Lily's eyes out with her obnoxiously sharp nails — cornered Lily after Charms class and demanded if she was going out with Potter or not, did Lily start to suspect something.

Naturally, Lily was confused. Suspicious.

She raised an eyebrow, said no, and brushed off the sudden attack as something irrelevant to her interests, and promptly forgot about it in the following quarter of an hour. Again, she was happily oblivious to the numerous dirty glares she received from the majority of the fifth year females.

She ate lunch like a civil being, unlike Sirius Black, who was sitting a few seats down the bench and eating like an ogre. Somehow, he managed to still attract the attention of half the girls sitting in the Hufflepuff table behind him. Lily, in all her unobservant glory, did not notice one James Potter discreetly watching her from his place beside Sirius Black and his, in Lily's opinion, disgusting eating habits.

No, in fact, she didn't seem to notice him at all. She was discussing the pros and cons of one particularly handsome Amos Diggory and the upcoming O.W.L. exams with her group of friends, with which she was maintaining a steady, playful banter. And again, she did not notice how their eyes darted from James to Lily and back again.

All throughout History of Magic, she attempted to jot down some notes like a prim and proper and respectable fifteen-year-old Prefect ought to. She failed miserably, and expertly doodled a rather stunning row of cottages along the top of her parchment. She also failed quite miserably in taking notice of the group of girls huddled together at the back of their class, gossiping in angrily whispers behind their hands.

But even though didn't outright notice all these happenings, something niggled in the back of Lily's mind, like an itchy spot she couldn't scratch.

Something was up.

Upon the end of Ancient Runes, Lily made a break for the nearest lavatory. It was full of chattering girls brushing their hair and perfecting their makeup, but when they noticed Lily heading for one of the stalls, the warm — as warm as a girl's lavatory can be, anyway — air disappeared, turning almost hostile. The chattering had vanished as well.

Fearing the possibility of oncoming murder, Lily hastily left the bathroom as quickly as she arrived, terribly confused. Making a mental note to ask Mary about it later, Lily headed down to the library. Just like she always did, she found Sev at their usual table and sat down across him. They studied in peaceful silence for three hours, as per schedule, before Lily packed away her things and prepared herself for the Prefects' meeting. At least, she was glad to scurry away from Madam Pince's sharp eyes and exceptionally pointy cheekbones.

Nothing of notably high importance occurred during the meeting, other than Jordan Smith accidentally tripping over somebody's discarded bookbag and unintentionally taking down half the office in his wake. After the sudden panic of the situation was cleared up and when the smashed painting was tossed inconspicuously out of the window, another disaster began — the deathly 18:34 Nail And Schedule Crisis, in which Rachel O'Connor toppled a pottle of ink all over the desk and broke her nail. As she sadly relayed to all the female Prefects after the incident, her right thumb would never be the same again.

On her way out, Lily was, however, fully aware of the withering glares she received from the acne-ridden Ravenclaw Hannah Robertson and how the thin but pretty Amanda Jones of Hufflepuff attempted to trip her when she collected her things.

When Lily closed the door to the chaos of the the Prefect offices, leaving the Heads to deal with the unruly mess, she came face to face with her friends; Marlene McKinnon, Emmeline Vance, and Mary MacDonald.

They all looked at her anxiously, exchanged glances, cracking joints and twisting fingers nervously, all seemingly sharing a silent conversation of some sort.

Something was definitely up.

"I don't think she knows," said Emmeline, scratching her nose.

"She probably doesn't know," said Mary, twisting a lock of brown hair around a finger.

"She doesn't know," said Marlene in her usual casual but quick manner.

"I don't know what?" asked Lily, thoroughly confused at this point.

"James Potter —"

"— it's only rumoured, Marley —"

"— fancies —"

"— Emma's right, you know. It might just be a rumour —"

"— you."

"What?" said Lily.

"James Potter fancies you," said Marlene, straightening up a bit. "Just thought you should know, yeah?"

"Rubbish," said Lily instantly. She almost snorted at the thought. James Potter, fancying her? Impossible.

They were born enemies. Rivals. They had their healthy daily dose of arguments, and whatever this fancying business was about, Potter couldn't possibly be serious. They were archenemies — this was, no doubt, some part of an apparently clever and well thought-through prank he was planning on pulling with the rest of his mates. Nothing more.

Lily relayed this to the three girls standing around her, and successfully shot down each and every one of the series of rumors and theories they had heard concerning Lily and James.

"Well then," said Emmeline finally, "that's that. You're not snogging Potter in some broom closet, at least — we were heading down to dinner, anyway. Care to join us?"

"Later," said Lily, gesturing to the teetering pile of books she was carrying in her arms, and the other girls nodded understandingly. "I need to drop these off in the dormitory."

They went their ways, then. Lily contemplated hanging back to wait for Remus, but upon hearing a muffled bang through the closed door, she decided that he wouldn't be getting out of there any time soon.

The walk towards the Gryffindor Tower was a tedious one. The weight of her books were making her arms ache, but being the strong, independent woman she was, Lily hugged them into her chest and marched up towards the general direction of the common room in a dignified manner.

Her mind wandered away, delving briefly into the thoughts of Potter's latest prank and why he needed her for it, before she off and thinking about different matters, such as the new Quaffler's album and the next Hogsmeade trip. Such thoughts tend to make one's mind not particularly alert, however, and that was perhaps solely the reason why Lily walked straight into an unsuspecting someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking —"

"Evening, Evans. Nice to see that you're mentally stable."

Ah. Of course, karma was bitch.

"Potter."

"Evans."

"What are you doing?"

"Walking."

"Where are you going?"

"Somewhere."

"It's nearly curfew."

"Operative word being 'nearly'," said James, smirking slightly in that way of his. Gathering her books from the floor, Lily resisted the urge to whack him over the head with the heaviest one she could reach.

"What do you want, Potter?" snapped Lily, snatching a few pieces of her parchment out of his hands. She was growing more and more uncomfortable with the newly discovered information that he fancied her — even though it wasn't true. Not true. Definitely not true.

He raised an eyebrow, amusement evident in his hazel eyes as she scowled up at him.

"Go out with me."

Lily's heart missed a beat.

"Sorry?"

"Go out with me, Evans."

Her scowl deepened. "No thank you, Potter."

To Lily's surprise, he didn't press the matter, but grinned at her again, lifting up a hand in a gesture of farewell. He walked right past her and continued on with his way down the corridor, and Lily watched him go, slightly puzzled.

Just before he turned around the corner, James looked back at her, and called, "Think about it, Ginger!"

"Don't call me 'Ginger'!" Lily called back.

James paused. "You're right," he said. "Your hair's more red than orange. See 'ya around, Red."

And with that, he was gone.

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**Yup, pretty meaningless. Just a little bit of fluff, and I'm tired. It's three in the morning. Something about reviews. . .?**

**Definitely tired.**

**See 'ya around,**

**andy :D**


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